Today Czech developer Bohemia Interactive announced that the third installment in its ARMA series will be hitting PCs everywhere in Summer 2012.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the ARMA series, allow me to fill you in. Basically ARMA is a military simulator for the hardest of the hardcore. While the game has a learning curve the size of Mount Everest, once you get a hang of things it becomes one of the most engrossing gaming experiences. To get an idea of what I mean, check out this video from PC Gamer showing some co-op multiplayer action.ARMA III will take place on a Mediterranean island where there’s a “well-guarded military secret” that needs investigating. While the first two ARMA games were more focused on mutliplayer operations, ARMA III will feature an “open-ended and story-driven” single-player. AS always, Bohemia Interactive will also be including a mission editor for the mod community. Bohemia is also promising “radical engine improvements,” including PhysX-support and a “revamped” animation system.

What do you guys think about this? Are there any ARMA fans out there besides me? Do you guys think that there is a large enough market to warren the development of hardcore military simulations like the ARMA series? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

If that’s something that interests you, check out the PC Gamer steam group. They do “newbie lessons” every weekend which are a lot of fun (that’s how I got into the game). Plus ARMA II should be pretty cheap now.